


Cambion

by nick7745



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Character Bashing, Character Death, Dark Hermione Granger, Evil Hermione Granger, Original Character Death(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:53:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nick7745/pseuds/nick7745
Summary: An AU where Hermione grew up in an orphanage before entering Hogwarts.Hermione is the Dark Lord's daughter and will be on the path to darkness.I will try to give my own touch to it and hopefully it gets as much love as Dark is All that's Left! received over the year.Disclaimer applies to all chapters henceforth: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 105
Kudos: 171





	1. Prologue

The little girl woke up shivering in cold sweat to a sordid dream of a pair of hands dragging her out of Mother Superior’s office and locking the sobbing girl into solitary confinement with a hard shove. 

She could barely remember the day she witnessed in the dream, and didn’t care much for it. It’s always one or the other torture and abuse she faced over the years growing up.

This one, the girl remembered was a year ago when Sister Alphonso caught her staring longingly towards the loaves of bread and chicken broth kept on the dining table meant for the nuns. The girl couldn’t help it, her stomach rumbled with hunger not having had a proper meal in days as punishment.

Punishment for a crime she couldn’t understand, she merely spoke to the only one friend who didn’t hate her. The little garden snake was her only friend who sometimes got her little mice and would often tell her about learning to hunt. She would always say he was silly and return the mouse for her friend to gobble up. 

She would lean down and go under the huge shrubs near the orphanage building where they met everyday. After spending years at the Hildreth House managed by few nuns affiliated to the local Church, she learnt whom to avoid and when to hide. It was easy, only two of the four nuns she feared were Mother Superior and Sister Alphonso. 

Growing up she learnt this the hard way, after being punished for small things like reciting the verses incorrectly or losing her posture while kneeling to pray, things beyond her control like bed wetting and even things like asking for her parents. 

The kids weren’t too helpful either, few elder ones, especially Ellie and Macy bullied her, causing her trouble, even purposely pouring water on her bedding to get her punished. Ellie was 16 and Macy was 13, both of whom were feared by other children as much as they feared Sister Alphonso.

Sometimes the bedding would automatically dry up when she felt fear of the wooden paddles Sister Alphonso favoured to use as punishment and one time Ellie was blasted back into the wall when she tried to scare her with a big spider. 

Slowly, everyone was either too afraid to become her friend or were chased away by the duo. No one would talk to her or play with her, so she would mostly sit near the tall shrubs sadly watching the other kids play around with each other.

Her heart wrenched at the feeling of loneliness, she couldn’t believe why her parents didn’t want her. She had vivid dreams about a woman of auburn hair and a dark haired man cooing to her. The images were blurry but one thing that stuck out were a pair of glowing eyes from the man who would conjure up sparks of various colors on his hands.

Usually Sister Aurelia, one of the kinder nuns, takes the afternoon shift and does not venture outside to apprehend the kids, this however was not her lucky day. She was chatting with the little snake when Sister Alphonso heard a series of hisses emanating from one of the shrubs.  
She had been outside for her shift to round up the kids mostly because punishing anyone slightly out of line was one of her favourite activities in the hovel which lacked any entertainment.

She gasped upon hearing the sounds, upon looking closely, it was none other than the freak little girl. The nuns considered her to be the Devil’s child, since over the years the girl had been punished many times for freak accidents like one of the elder girls falling off the stairs and getting injured and the chandelier to break and fall right where Mother Superior stood moments ago.

This was the last nail in the coffin, so to speak, as they decided to exorcise whatever demon possessed this girl. Father Edgar had been called from the church to perform the exorcism. The scared little girl begged and pleaded but no one heard her plea. She was dunked head first in holy water while the priest chanted the verses, she felt breathless as water filled her nostrils and she flailed around trying to pull her head out held firmly by Mother Superior. 

As fear coursed through her veins a burst of static exploded through the room pushing Mother Superior off her back while the priest was flung hitting his back towards the wall.

  
The priest and Mother Superior were out of ideas and as a final effort to ensure that she had been cleansed of the demonic influence, they branded her back with the holy cross burnt into her skin using a red hot poker stick. The girl couldn’t take the pain and screamed herself to unconsciousness. 

Sister Alphonso dumped her unconscious body into the solitary confinement room with a satisfied smile. Additionally, the girl was punished to one meal a day to atone for her sins for a week. 

By the time she was out again, she was able to walk without wincing in pain. Her back still held the scar shaped in the form of the holy cross, however the wound healed much faster, which was a surprise considering how deep Father Edgar had etched the mark on her.

She was still considered a pariah amongst other children hence she walked towards the back of the building to try and meet her friend. However, what she encountered shook her to the core once again.

The shrubs had been burnt off and in place of the calming green shrubs, only charred remains of the plants and their bark remained. She was hopeful that her little friend would have escaped the fire, but fate didn’t give her that luxury. She spotted the burnt carcass of a small green snake which resembled too much like her friend. Unable to bear the torment anymore she ran back to the dorms and hid beneath the cot crying into her arms till unconsciousness took over.

Once lively brown eyes now became lifeless, her bushy dark brown hair was a mess and stayed matted to her forehead. Dressed up in the rags the orphanage provided, she looked more like an old and discarded doll. No longer her face held the smile that had the warmth to melt the stoniest of hearts.

All she could now think was self preservation and finding a way to escape and survive away from this hell. She knew she had some sort of powers but didn’t know how to use or control it. She secretly hoped she was actually the devil, so that at least she could use her so-called demonic powers to exact revenge on the pathetic excuse of humans that were supposed to care for her.

She wiped the sweat off her face getting up from the bed. A persistent hoot coming from the slit high on the wall guarded by bars alerted her to the presence of a brown owl. Upon closer inspection, she saw a letter attached to its talons. The owl swooped down and dropped the letter on her lap before taking its original place back high near the slit.

**_The envelope was addressed to_ **

**_Ms Hermione Granger,_ **  
**_First Room on the Third Floor,_ **  
**_Hildreth House,_ **  
**_Winchester_ **

The letter was addressed to her and the address was weirdly accurate. She was perplexed as the nuns never allowed any correspondence from the outside world. She opened the envelope and two old style parchment paper dropped out of them. She picked up the first piece of paper which read:

  
**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_ **

**_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_ **  
**_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_ **  
**_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_ **

**_Dear Ms Granger,_ **

**_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._ **  
**_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. A Hogwarts representative will be there for orientation and to escort the child exactly two days after the response has been submitted._ **

**_Yours sincerely,_ **

**_Minerva McGonagall_ **  
**_Deputy Headmistress_ **

“What in the name of hell is this!” She could not believe what she was reading. A school for witches and wizards. Another thing what it meant was that she was no demon or possessed by a spirit, she was an actual witch. 

She wondered what the nuns would do incase whoever showed up for the orientation. No, she wouldn’t jeopardise this opportunity, this was her one chance to escape this hell and prepare herself for retribution.

Hermione quickly searched for a pencil and a piece of paper from her notebook to pen down her reply. Once done, she waved the folded paper in the air until the owl took notice. With swift motion the owl picked up the letter and flew out of the room towards its destination, wherever the hell that was.

Hermione hoped against hope that this didn’t turn out to be some sort of a cruel joke by the children or even the nuns. She would be devastated after getting her hopes high on this one.

Although it did look legitimate judging by the elaborate list of items she needed to buy for the year. Only problem was money, she didn’t really have even a mesely quid to her name. Maybe there was some sort of scholarship or funding for poor kids. Why else would they send me an invite if they knew I’m an orphan. She would have to wait for a couple of days until the representative arrives.

After spending all her life at Hildreth House, she felt genuine happiness for the first time. She would get to meet her own people, people who would all be well versed in magic. Maybe she’ll finally make friends or get to search for her family and ancestry. There’s no way at least some of her ancestors were wizards and witches.


	2. A new beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Welcome to the Chapter 2 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.

Foul was not something that could completely capture the mood Hogwarts’ esteemed Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape was in. Owing to his knowledge about the muggle world because of his half-blood status, he gets stuck with introducing the muggleborns to the wizarding world along with the Deputy Headmistress.

The reason, though for his mood, was that he didn’t really like going in to the muggle world as more often than not they triggered memories of his less than fortunate childhood growing up in the muggle neighbourhood. 

More likely because he was going to visit a particularly morose location today. With a resigned shake of his head, he transfigured his black robes into a black tailored suit more appropriate for the muggle world and slid the wand back in while taking determined steps towards an old victorian style building with a small metal plaque that read ‘Hildreth House’.

A nun with spectacles and short mousy stature guided him towards the office of Mother Superior. He waited for her to appear, trying not to sneer at the overly religous feel to the entire room.

“Good morning! Sister Aurelia informed you wanted to meet me.” a stern woman wearing brown muggle robes entered the office.

“Good Morning, madam!” Severus responded slightly unsure. “I am here on official business. I am from a private school in Scotland and there is one Ms Hermione Granger I’d like to speak with. She has been invited to attend the prestigious school and her expenses will be taken care of.”

“Sir, I am not sure what you are talking about, but we do not allow the children in our care to attend private boarding schools. The children here learn the ways of the Lord and are taught at the convent affiliated with the Church. I have to request you to leave, immediately!” she replied sternly.

Normally he would have attempted to coax her into an understanding being a spy during the last war, however he was already treading on reduced patience levels and that prompted him to whip out his wand and shoot a non-verbal confounding hex on her before she could react to what he was doing.

Mother Superior’s eyes glazed over and she blinked a few times before he spoke again with a satisfied smirk, “So, as we have discussed, why don’t you guide me to Ms Granger and let me have a private chat with her.”

“Oh yes, sure Mr Snape. Please wait here in my office. I’ll get her myself.” she replied curtly before getting up to leave.

“Thank you.” he replied leaning back on his chair to wait for the little brat to show up.

It took more than 15-20 minutes before the door opened and in walked a girl too thin and slightly short for an eleven year old. The dress she wore seemed more like an afterthought, as if they didn’t belong to her, too pristine for her shabby appearance. He didn’t need Legillimency to know what’s going on at the orphanage. That was the case almost every orphanage, children either break down in to a shell of themselves or rise through it hardened. Only time shall tell where this girl leads, although he’d guess towards the former rather than latter.

“Hermione! This is Mr Severus Snape and he wants to speak with you about a schooling opportunity. Be courteous with him.” the woman remarked before addressing him, “Mr Snape, I’ll just be back in sometime. You may speak with her in my office here.”

Severus merely nodded before the woman left the office. He got his wand out and locked the door before silencing the room.

Hermione stood there mutely gawking at the flamboyant display of magic by the man dressed in black suit.

“This answers your first question, yes, magic exists. I am Severus Snape, the Potions Master and Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, I would answer most questions, however I would hope they are pertinent and precise.” the Potions Master said putting his wand back inside his coat before looking up expectantly at the still gawking girl, “Well?”

“Uhm… Yes, ah.. Sir even though I responded to the letter, but I really don’t know how I’ll afford to study there. I’m an orphan as you know… I barely have a pair of rags in the name of personal possessions. Is there any sort of fund or scholarship I could apply?” Hermione asked regaining her senses and righting herself in a proper posture holding on to the long sleeves of the dress to hide the bruise marks from her punishment last night.

“No Ms Granger, there’s no such scholarship that you can apply. However, Hogwarts does have a fund allocated for muggleborn students such as yourself.”  
“Sir, what’s a muggleborn? Is that some sort of racial slur?” Hermione couldn’t help but feel a pit in her stomach, was she going to be once more a second rate citizen.

“No, Ms Granger! Most certainly it isn’t. Muggle is a term for non-magical people like others you may have seen around you. Muggleborn is the term for magical people born to muggles, such as yoursel-”

“How did you know my parents are muggles?” Hermione felt an ire building up inside for reasons unknown. She didn’t really like her parents being called that, however in reality she knew the man could be right.

“Ms Granger, since this is your first time, I’ll let it pass, but in future please refrain from cutting me off. Now, to answer your question, I am not aware, however it was an educated guess based on the fact that you are in a muggle neighbourhood and a muggle orphanage. To continue what I was saying, there are 3 types of citizens you should be aware of, in the wizarding world which you shall be entering, Muggleborns - born to non-magical parents, Half-bloods - born to one parent of wizarding background and other parent is either non-magical or a muggleborn and lastly Purebloods - born to parents who both come from a line of wizarding families.” Severus replied with a slight frown, though his face remained impassive for the most part.

“Oh, I… I’m sorry Sir. I didn’t mean to cut you off, but as you said, I feel there is some sort of heirarchy. It’s fine, I had one more question, how long is the school year and will I be allowed to stay there afterwards? This is a Church run orphanage and you know what they’ll do if they find out about the books of magic.” Hermione’s face frowned in concern as this was the most important question, of whether she’d be able to get away from the hellhole or not.

“The school is in session for 10 months a year, your term starts on 1st September every year and ends on 30th June. For the remainder of two months you would need to go back to your prior living arrangements I’m afraid. I would not be able to help you with that. Now, if that is all, I would like us to leave for Diagon Alley where you can get the supplies for your first year at Hogwarts.” he turned towards the door and removed the silencing wards.

“Uhmm yes, sure. Can I get one moment please.” Hermione asked trying to hide her nervousness.

“Of course, meet me at the gates. You have 5 minutes Ms Granger.” the Potions Master moved towards the door. “Time’s running out Ms Granger, I hate tardiness.”

“Yes, of course sir.” Hermione rushed out of the office and back to her dorms. She knelt besides her bed and lifted a loose floorboard below the bed. There was a bit of space from where she pulled out something small wrapped in a piece of cloth. She opened it and held a fang hanging from a thick thread.

This was her only possession and she would never leave it behind for anything. She salvaged it from the burnt body a few days after she found it. She tied the thread around her neck and let it hang loosely inside her dress.

Hermione ran back to the gates where Professor Snape stood waiting. She turned back to have one final look at the Hildreth House. If it were upto her, she’d never come back, though she knew her reprieve would be short lived.

“I’m ready, Professor.” Hermione turned back towards Snape who nodded.

“Follow me, Ms Granger.” Severus turned towards the street and Hermione followed him as they walked past few blocks before entering a deserted alley. “Now this might be a bit unpleasant as your first time apparating, but please try to keep stable. Now, hold my hands firmly, we will be apparating.”

Hermione took a deep breath as the Snape transfigured his clothes back to his signature billowing black robes. As soon as she took his left hand, he disapparated them with a soft pop.

Hermione felt herself squeeze through a tiny hole and then felt thrown back out wrenching every part of her body. Moments later they landed in the middle of a busy street with a huge marble building at one end and a blank brick wall at the other. She dry heaved at the corner before Severus cleaned her up with his wand. 

“Here, have this potion Ms Granger, it’ll help with the nausea.” Severus handed her a small vial with a dark liquid. She took the potion and immediately felt better. “Thank you, Sir!”

“We must not waste time now, let’s get to Gringotts to get you your allowance. We will move on to buying the supplies after that. Try not to get lost Ms Granger.” Hermione nodded as both set towards the white marble building.

Hermione was amazed to see small creatures with sharp pointy teeth, few of them guarding outside decked in armour, while the ones inside dressed up in pinstriped suits behind the counters tending to people dressed up in slightly weird clothing similar to her professor.

After verifying Hermione’s name, the Goblin teller handed over a pouch with 150 Galleons notifying her that she would get a refill only the next year. She was fine with that, she was resourceful if nothing else.

Stepping out of Gringotts they moved towards Madam Malkin’s. Madam Malkin greeted her warmly and asked her to wait in the back of the shop near the girl’s section. Hermione was thankful for that since she didn’t really want the professor to see her bruises when she would get measured.

“Yes, dear. Hogwarts standard set?” Madam Malkin asked her while Hermione stepped up to get her measurements taken.  
“Yes, ma’am. Is… Do you have… I mean can you also make two sets of robes for daily wear? I don’t have much money, so the cheapest you can make would be fine.” Hermione stuttered trying not to offend the owner.

“That’s alright dear. You don’t need to fret, I’ll include 2 daily wear sets including a winter cloak for 1 galleon and 10 sickles extra.” she said while the tapes took measurements and fitted her with the school robes.

After paying up for the robes, she left the store to pick up a trunk. Snape as usual guided her to the next shop and went about his own work meanwhile. The owner showed her a plethora of trunks but most of them were too expensive, hence she asked for a second hand trunk with shrinking and enlarging charm applied. Thankfully it fit her budget perfectly, now all she had to do was get the books, she could opt for second hand books and save up some more.

After a while of perusing through wizarding books in Flourish & Blotts, she picked up the bare minimum books she needed from the second hand shelf and got the billing done. Moving through various shops to get the other remaining items on the list she was happy to say she saved 68 Galleons out of the given budget.

The last purchase of the day was her very own wand, then she would be a full fledged witch. She was skipping with excitement as the potions master led her towards Ollivanders.

The moment they entered, they were greeted to a myriad of long slender boxes stacked all over in the shop. Shortly after, an eccentric old man greeted them as the shop owner.

Hermione went through more than 10 wands before Ollivander returned with a black box. Few wands reacted extreme and shattered the vase and other glass items in the shop, while others she felt a static shock as soon as she touched. It was getting quite frustrating for her and Snape, who stood back impassively watching the girl go through different wands.

“Here, Ms Granger! Give it a try.” Ollivander presented her a wand of dark wood with vine pattern throughout it’s stem.

Hermione held her hand towards the box and instantly felt a warmth engulf her body, she felt this was it. She waved her wand and shot brilliant golden sparks and flicked again to shoot green sparks. Just like her dreams, the man in her dreams who produced similar sparks on his palm. Her heart swelled, she knew she wasn’t a muggleborn, how could she, this was magic, the man in her dreams did magic. She would find out or die trying. This was her world and she’d rather die than go back to those horrid peop… No! Those horrid _‘Muggles’_!

Neither she nor Snape who stood behind her noticed, something which Ollivander did and his heart filled with apprehension. Hermione’s eyes flashed red for a moment when she was lost in thoughts holding her wand. “I would suggest you exercise caution, Ms Granger. What you have there is 10 ¾ inches long Vine wood wand with the core of a Dragon heart string. It can help you achieve greatness. You can accomplish great feats, choose your path wisely.”

Hermione looked skeptically at the wand maker, she felt he insinuated much more than he said. Did he somehow know she planned on her revenge. It won’t do her good if she was caught, “Wha.. what do you mean, Mr Ollivander?”

“That will be all, Garrick. No need to oversell your wand. How much will it be?” Snape was quite frankly bored with the shenanigans and could not wait to go back to his lab.

“That will be 7 Galleons, Severus.” Ollivander replied with a slight frown.

“Right, Ms Granger!” Snape motioned Hermione to pay which she nodded and handed over the money to Ollivanders before pocketing her wand. With a nod towards the wand maker, they left the shop into the busy streets.

“Now, Ms Granger, our business is complete. I have answered all your queries and all your purchases have been completed. Here is the last thing for today.” Snape took an envelope with Hogwarts seal from his pocket and handed it over to Hermione, “This, Ms Granger is the ticket to the Hogwarts express which leaves Kings Cross Station on 1st September at 11AM sharp. I would expect you to reach early to avoid any inconvenience. The way to enter the platform 9 ¾ from the Muggle side is by going through the pillar wall between Platforms 9 and 10. Any further questions?”

Hermione contemplated asking about a hotel or lodging facility in the alley but held her tongue. It may not go well with the professor and she didn’t want any trouble with him or the school. “No, sir. Thank you for helping me today.”

“Good, come now, hold my hand. I’ll apparate us back to Winchester.” Severus held his hand out for her to grab.

“Uhmm, sir I can take the tube, I mean muggle train to Winchester. I rarely get a chance to come out and I want to take the muggle ride. Please sir.” Hermione pleaded putting up the most charming pitiable expression.

Severus sighed, he didn’t want to waste anymore time than he had to, so he relented, “Very well, Ms Granger. You may exit to the muggle side through the wall at the end of the street. Tap the three marked bricks on the wall with your wand and it should open up into the Leaky Cauldron. You may have a meal there and leave into the muggle side through the main gate. I must warn you, you are not allowed to use your wand for magic outside Hogwarts until seventeen years of age, so be very careful.”

“Thank you sir, I’ll take your leave then...” Severus nodded before disapparating back to Hogsmeade. “..but not from Diagon Alley.” she finished with a smirk.

Hermione tapped the bricks which opened up an archway into Leaky Cauldron. It was a shabby old diner and pub connecting muggle London and Diagon Alley. Hermione could see a few witches and wizards occupying the tables before she went to the bar counter.

“Excuse me sir! Can I get some food.” Hermione enquired the man behind the counter arranging the bottles on the shelf. He turned around to the voice of the girl, “Oh, hey good evening, little girl. You can call me Tom.”

“Yes, well Tom, do you have something to eat?”

“You know it’s a bit late for lunch now. I can get you some sausage, eggs and mash.”

“Okay, that’s fine. How much will it cost? I don’t have too much money Tom.”

“It’ll be 2 sickles and 7knuts, girl. I’ll tell you what, you look like you haven’t eaten a while. I’ll throw in some soup n bread. A butterbeer on the house, eh!” Tom replied with a warm smile.

Hermione was contemplating if she needed to spend so much, she could get some bread and soup for cheap in muggle side, but she didn’t have a penny in her pocket. She nodded reluctantly as he motioned her to take a seat while he gets the food ready.

Hermione sat around looking at the people engrossed in their own conversations. Her mind though was trying to piece in some plan to arrange a stay for herself. The muggle world was not possible, the police would probably send her back to Hildreth House if they caught her. Besides, now that she found her own people, she didn’t want to go back to the magic hating animals.

She would have to play the orphan card, people really love a good sob story. She wondered if she could maybe pick a couple of jobs, she could save some money on the sides. The smell of fresh hot food got her out of her musings as she saw Tom holding the tray.

“Lost in thoughts, eh, little girl?” Tom asked as he set the plates, “Here’s ya food, now. Enjoy!”

“Thanks Tom” Hermione looked at her plate and felt a genuine happiness. This was no less than a feast for her. The plate was filled with two fried sausages, an omlette and some mashed peas and potatoes. Another small bowl of chicken soup and a few pieces of bread on the plate. A medium sized mug filled with a frothy drink of some sort smelling of caramel. 

She took her first bite and felt content, far too long she survived on one meal per day, she would savour this meal as much as she can. The drink was something she took an immediate liking to. She’d treat herself to it atleast once a year.

By the time she was done, most patrons had left as it was nearing 6PM. She walked over to the bar, “Hey, Tom! Here’s your bill, 2 sickles and 7 knuts.” Hermione counted each coin and kept it on the table in front of him.

“Ya didn’t tell your name, little girl.” Tom asked picking up the coins.

“Hermione, Hermione Granger!”  
“Tha’s a nice name. Where’s your parents, didn’t they come for the shopping? You seem old enough for Hogwarts.”

“I… I’m an..an orphan, Tom! I’ve never seen my parents. Grew up in an orphanage and years ago it burned down. I’ve been living on the streets ever since.” Hermione’s eyes welled up, much of it was true pain, a part of it was good acting. The nuns never believed in it, mostly because they didn’t care for it.

“Sorry there, Hermione! I din’t mean to bring up memories. Say, where you’d be staying now.” Tom felt uneasy and awkward, he didn’t know how to deal with this.

“I don’t know, Tom. I’d probably have to go back to the dumpster and hope the mattress is still there. Thanks to the Hogwarts fund, I had a proper hot meal today. Let’s see if I can survive till September.” Hermione sobbed between words, piling on the guilt. The reaction from Tom proved it was working, at least he was feeling pity. Now she’d have to see if he’d act on helping her out or not. “Can I ask you something?”

“Uhh.. yeah, sure. Here, wipe your tears girl.” Tom handed her a tissue, he was not adept at dealing with this, hopefully she’d stop crying on her own.

“Can you give me a small place to live? Please, I’ll be grateful. I can work a shift in your kitchens to pay it off.” Hermione pleaded piling on the emotions.

Tom contemplated for a while, he didn’t really want to get in any trouble taking in an orphan, yet he felt really bad for the girl and didn’t want her to live off the streets. Merlin knows what sort of dangers lurk around the streets at night. He’d be crushed in guilt if he didn’t do anything to help her.

With a resigned sigh, he rubbed his face with his hands, “Fine! You can stay, I have an old room filled with junk in the basement, but you’d have to clean it up. I’ll give you food and boarding for two months every year until you move out. In return, you can work in the kitchens for the evening shift.”

“Thank you, thank you so much, Tom! I’ll do everything, I’ll clean up the room. I’ll work the shifts.” Hermione genuinely felt grateful and but felt no remorse for lying to the good man. She has learnt over the years that self preservation ranks highest, higher than any morals. The fang hung from the thread around her neck serves a constant reminder to what happened due to her lack of discretion.

“Don’t get too excited now, Hermione. I’m doing this only to help you, but make sure there’s no trouble.” Tom held up his hand to warn Hermione, “Now, I know the allowance is too low at Hogwarts, you can choose to work a part time job if you feel like it to earn some extra cash. For now you can take up room 114, I’ll show you the basement tomorrow.” 

“That’s all I could ask for. Thank you so much. Is it fine if I take a stroll through the alley. I can try to find a part time job while I’m out.” Hermione asked hopefully.  
“Yeah, tha's fine. We have dinner at pub closing time, which is about 10PM. Don’t stay out too late, it’s dangerous to stay out after dark. Okay?” Tom remarked as Hermione nodded before walking back towards the back exit into the alley.

This time though Hermione’s charm didn’t quite work as well as she would have liked. Most shop owners required expertise in their wares before they could hire her and she was not experienced enough. Most of them empathized with her yet didn’t offer her employment.

Her penultimate stop had been Flourish & Blotts. If the owner rejected her, then she’d only have the magical menagerie left to ask. The moment she entered the shop, the owner Mr Quillens greeted her asking if she can come back tomorrow since the shop was about to close for the day. Hermione gave it one last shot and explained her predicament playing up every card she had. 

Mr Quillens was an old man in his late sixties, who owned the shop succeeding his father who bought it from the original founders. He gave her a look and thought things over, his shop mostly had rush for the two months before the start of Hogwarts and had no use for an extra person for the remainder of the year. 

This was the perfect opportunity for both of them, he could have her as temporary help every year for two months and she could earn a few extra Galleons when she was around.

Mr Quillens smiled warmly at her, “Well, you have made a case for yourself, Hermione. I appreciate you wanting to earn your stay and it’s an ideal case for me as most of the rush in my store is there during these 2 months before start of term. If you’re really up for it, you may join from tomorrow. I’ll pay you 6 Galleons a week. Is that fine?”

Hermione gave him the most brilliant smile before her expression turned unsure, “Thank you Mr Quillens, but can I request something?” She continued as he nodded back, “Sir, I’m new to the wizarding world and can hardly afford a book. I would like to give a counter proposal, if you can only allow me to take one book out of the shop to read at a time, I’ll be very grateful. You could pay me 5 Galleons a week instead. This would be a great help sir. I’ll make sure to take care of the books. I don’t even want to take the new ones, I can take something from the second hand shelves. It’s almost like I’ll be paying for borrowing the books 1 Galleon a week. I’ll only borrow another book once I return the last. Please sir I-”

“Okay, okay! That should be fine Hermione.” The bookshop owner cut her off with a hearty chuckle, “I’m impressed by your dedication, so I’ll still give you 6 Galleons a week and you can take a second hand book as you said. The only condition I have is if the books are damaged, you would have to pay for it in full. Is that okay? If you agree to it, then you may begin from Sunday. I’ll even give you a book to get started.”

“Thank you Mr Quillens. I’ll take good care of the books, I assure you. Can you suggest a book I can start with?” Hermione grinned from ear-to-ear.

“Of course dear. Just wait here” he stood from his chair and moved towards the back of the store before he came back with a thick tome. “Here, take this. It’s a book on wizarding genealogy and updated history of important events till the last decade. It’s one of multiple copies I have, so a good way to see if you can take care of books. Go on now, I’ll see you on Sunday, sharp at 8.30AM.”

“Thanks again, Sir. I’ll see you on Sunday. Good night!” Hermione wished him before exiting the shop.

Sitting in her room late into the night, the tome open in her lap, she thought about the morning, the entire day in fact. So much happened, it changed her life completely, from the lonely orphan to an independent…well, sort of independent girl. She’d have to work hard throughout the day and even through the nights, although it wasn’t any different from the work she did at Hildreth House, only thing good was that she’ll be achieving something for herself. With any luck she wouldn’t have to set foot in the hell for the foreseeable future.


	3. Filthy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Welcome to the Chapter 3 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.
> 
> Hermione's Room reference image: https://ibb.co/jRbNQmR

The room Tom showed her was in the attic of the lodging house, it had a small window overlooking Diagon alley. The room itself was cold and was filled with old junk, dust and lots of cobwebs. Hermione spent the entire day cleaning the place without magic. Tom had been gracious enough to lend a hand in the end to clear up the junk she removed from the room.

She repurposed a couple of wooden crates for storage and a small wooden barrel as a table and cleaned up an old chair to keep nearby. All in all it was a small but cozy room she had set up for herself. Tom provided her with a set of bedding for her cot. End of day, she was a happy girl to have a space of her own, even if it was temporary. She had a hearty meal before crashing on her bed utterly tired and exhausted for the night.

Days flew by as Hermione settled into a routine of getting up early, finishing breakfast, reading her books for about an hour and half before reporting to work at the bookstore. Life at the bookstore was pretty uneventful other than hordes of children and their parents descending upon the alley and the store for their Hogwarts purchase on weekends particularly. 

One such day was when the Great Harry Potter graced the alley with his presence. She’d read all about him in the books she borrowed. He was nothing like what she expected and judging by his clothes it seemed he didn’t even know he was famous. Oversized and awkwardly held muggle clothes and a pair of broken spectacles. He seemed to come from a similar background as hers if she judged it correctly from his shabby appearance and meek nature. 

If half the stories about him were to be believed he should have ridden into Diagon alley on flying unicorns with a shield and sword decked in golden armour. She scoffed the moment she read the first of those ridiculous stories, really, a year old boy defeating a full grown wizard. With what! His stinky poo?

Another piece of work was the freaking whiny blonde haired boy. Him and his condescending father, Hermione would have shown them who was filth had she been older. Sadly, she would meet both ends of the spectrum at Hogwarts, Merlin’s lack of mercy meant she’d share class with one or both of them, and she fancied meeting none. Yes, Potter seemed a nice boy but he was too famous not to invite some sort of trouble. It would be better for her to stay away from any sort of attention, at least until she finds her family.

After going through a few grimoire sized books on Wizarding history and families, she was really frustrated to not find any family having resemblance to her looks. As more and more she read, she felt she may not be a pureblood afterall, she really didn’t want to turn out a ‘Mudblood’. Yes, that was the derogatory term for muggleborns, the blonde ponce was sure to throw that around at her. And for what, merely dropping a book on his foot. She wanted to say something, but this wasn’t the time nor did she have the position to do any harm.

Having read quite a bit on wizarding customs and also having finished reading half her course books, she really felt missing out on learning actual magic, like she missed out on so much over the years. She decided to do some useful reading trying to learn spells that might help her. Two books that she did finish from her course were DADA and Charms before she borrowed some advanced level books from the shop.

Mr Quillens cautioned Hermione when she asked about books on offensive magic. There were many such books on the used shelf and quite a few of them held magic banned by the ministry. She had been forbidden from taking them out of the shop which saddened her. It would have been amazing to read what’s the extent of light and dark magic that exists in the world. 

An important thing she learnt was she could perform magic, the only caveat was to have a wand without trace. Ollivander had strictly refused to remove the trace and even give her another wand without one. She felt insulted more at the way he dismissed her more than anything, as though she was the ‘Devil’s spawn’ to quote the famous words of Sister Alphonso.

After days of convincing she was allowed to take home ‘Master Grishyenko’s guide to Dueling: A Primer’ which had spells ranging from light to borderline dark barely allowable by the ministry and the dueling tournaments. She took notes and devoured the entire book in merely 5 nights. Of course the days were spent half awake and red eyed snoozing whenever she got a chance, yet it was totally worth it. 

The euphoria of simply learning the spells gave her such a high, she longed to just be able to practice them. Her hands itched to pull her beautiful vine wood wand out of the old trunk and practice the spells.

* * *

  
A few days before the Hogwarts Express was to depart, Hermione was working on cleaning up and reshelving some of the newly arrived stock of books when an old lady came in. She walked towards Hermione and asked about a few books good for gifting her grandson. Hermione politely helped her with the suggestions and offered to pack and bill them for her.

The old woman watched Hermione curiously before she couldn’t hold it off, “Dear girl, I have been coming over at this shop for years, but I have not seen you before. Are you related to Quillens?”

Hermione who was busy packing the books with wrapping paper looked up before giving a sad smile, “No ma’am, I’m an orphan. Mr Quillens was gracious enough to let me work here part time.”

“Sweet Circe! I’m sorry, child! My apologies. I don’t want to pry, but do you mind if I ask what happened to your parents dear?” The woman felt bad for bringing up an uncomfortable topic, but she couldn’t help but want to understand what happened to the sweet little girl’s family.

Hermione just waved off her concerns, “Oh, it’s alright ma’am. I really don’t know where they are or what happened to them. I do hope to find out, but every search through the wizarding genealogy books ended up futile and a dead-end.”

Realization dawned upon the woman as she gave her a slight smile, “Well dear, why don’t you get an inheritance test done. The goblins at Gringotts can do one for you and it’ll surely give you results if any of your parents were from a wizarding family.”

“Really? Is it like.. A hundred percent accurate?”

The old woman laughed heartily, “Oh child, it’s the goblins, anything they do is 100% accurate.”

Hermione beamed with happiness, “Excellent! Here’s your package ma’am. That’ll be 7 Galleons and 4 Knuts.”

“Here dear!” The woman gave Hermione 8 Galleons and turned to leave when Hermione called her, “Ma’am, your change!”

“It’s alright dear. You can keep the change! Good Luck with the test!” the woman gave her a bright smile before leaving the store.

Hermione stood at the counter grinning. She was in an ecstatic mood all day. Nothing or no one could wipe the grin off her face. Mr Quillens gave her time off an hour before the store closed to visit Gringotts. 

Hermione collected all the money she had saved from her room and literally ran through the now deserted streets through heavy rains towards the white marble building at the end of the street. She could feel the anticipation bubbling inside her threatening to burst through.  
The bank was almost devoid of any customers as she walked towards one of the counters on the left side meant for customers not holding an account. A goblin dressed in grey pinstriped suit sat behind the counter working on paperwork pointedly ignoring her, as was the norm with most Goblins towards a wizard or witch.

Hermione called out to him politely, “Excuse me, Sir!”

The goblin responded without looking up from his parchment, “Yes, what do you want girl?”

“Sir, Is there an inheritance test available at Gringotts?”

Once again he gave her a short answer, “Yes.”

“Uhm… Sir, I would like to take the test please.” Hermione replied in a quiet tone.

The goblin finally looked up from his parchment and eyed her critically before showing his set of pointy teeth, “And why, pray tell, do you want to take the Test?”

“Sir, I… I really want to find my parents or anyone in my family! Please sir, let me take the test.” Hermione pleaded with the Goblin, tears now welling up in her eyes.

“Very well, it will be 975 Galleons. Please pay now and we can move to the private office to perform the test.”

It was as if a void just formed inside her, she felt a longing heartache, “975!” she repeated the figure wide eyed.

“Yes, Nine Hundred and Seventy Five Galleons miss.” the Goblin replied unemotionally.

“Sir, please this is all I have, it’s not much but all I have saved. I don’t have that many sir. Please sir, I beg you I really want to find my family!” Hermione pleaded with him again, placing the money pouch on the counter.

“Please take your pouch miss. I’m afraid Gringotts doesn’t work on human sentiments. I would suggest you leave and return when you have the required fee ready. Good day!” The Goblin dismissed her before leaving the counter towards the back of the bank.

Hermione stood there dumbstruck, ruing once again her ill fated luck. One moment giving her hope and happiness, the very next moment shattering every bit of it to pieces just like how broken her heart felt.

Hermione picked her pouch and pocketed it before turning around slowly walking out the double doors of the bank. The rain poured heavily with barely anything visible on the stormy night.

She walked into the streets before collapsing on her knees at the steps of the closed apothecary right opposite the entrance to Knockturn alley. Hermione felt something inside her break. A loud wail pierced the barren street as Hermione let go of her emotions and wept openly as tears stung her eyes and the rain poured around her.

It could have been hours she sat drenched under the stormy sky. Her mind was blank, as were her tear ducts. Her eyes red from crying, she sat exhausted looking aimlessly at the deserted Knockturn Alley.

A man dressed in black robes apparated into Knockturn Alley clearly drunk being unable to support himself on his feet. Stumbling out of the alley he spotted Hermione sitting alone. Smirking awkwardly to himself he approached her as Hermione sat looking in his direction but not really noticing his advance.

He pulled out his wand and pointed in Hermione’s direction, “STUPEFY!” a red spell burst through his wand towards her direction and her eyes widened in realization as she saw a flash of red light whiz past her ears and hit the lamp post behind her. She moved quickly to dodge another spell in her direction.

The man soon reached close enough to her and stopped firing spells, instead he just tried to corner Hermione, who was looking for a way to escape the predator. She knew for a fact if she’s caught, she’d lose much more than her modesty. The man even though inebriated, was able to overpower her while she did her best to fight back kicking and flailing.

The man pulled on her robes and tore through her sleeves when she felt panic set in. In a bid to fend of the man, she searched for anything around that her hands could reach. She suddenly felt a putrid breath near her face as the man eyed her lips hungrily.

With a desperate scream she picked the brick she felt nearby and smashed it into the side of his head before he could capture her lips with his. The man fell to the side clutching his bleeding head screaming in pain, while Hermione regained herself. She felt disgusted trying to cover her arms trying to move away from him. He cussed and abused pulling his wand out once again ready to teach the wench a lesson. In a fit of panic, Hermione lunged towards him with the brick in hand smashing it again into his face and kept pelting his face with it until he collapsed dead on the ground with a mangled face.

Hermione threw the brick away dissolving into a sob. She was disgusted at herself, at her weakness, she felt dirty! unclean! She wanted to claw her own skin off. Her eyes swam with ghosting visions of the man’s face right in front of her whenever she closed her eyes. After a few moments full realization hit her of the crime she’d done. She’d be carted off to Azkaban. No! No, she can’t. She wouldn’t, not for filth like him. 

She had to get away from this without causing suspicion so she pulled the wand off his hands and pocketed it before looking around if anyone saw them. She proceeded to search his pockets and found a pouch of money. She emptied the pouch into her pockets and left the pouch near his corpse.  
She reached the pub as soon as she could making sure not to leave blood marks around. The pub was thankfully closed by then so no one saw her entering while she moved towards the attic bathroom. Hermione removed the clothes and washed them repeatedly to clean off any blood marks which wasn’t any helpful. Her body was almost clean of blood due to rain but her top and robes were covered in blood. She hung them to dry inside the bathroom and washed herself rubbing hard to clean any remaining blood, so much so her skin felt red and tender from over scrubbing. 

Once she was done, she stashed the money and wand deep into her trunk before trying to fall asleep. Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw his dirty face looking straight at her and panicked waking up instantly. This was one of the hardest nights in her life. She did feel bad for taking his life, but what bothered her more was that he was inches from ruining her life. All because of her own stupidity, she should have come home instead of wallowing on the streets, instead of losing herself to her thoughts so much so that she didn't see the threat right in front of her. It was once again a hard learnt lesson fate decided to teach her. She sobbed into the night trying not to make too much noise biting down on a piece of cloth, until exhaustion claimed her finally.


	4. Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Welcome to the Chapter 4 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.

Hermione woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. She stretched her arms and legs which cracked with a satisfying pop. She sat near her windows remembering the night before.

It was the worst she felt in a while, the marks on her back paled in comparison to the invasion she felt on her skin. She moved to her trunk and pulled out the wand and her pouch. Pouring the contents on her bed she counted up the coins, in addition to her savings of 81 Galleons and 10 Knuts she found an additional 23 Galleons, 11 Sickles and 8 Knuts. It was barely a tenth of what she needed.

She never felt bad working menial jobs and living off her meagre savings, but this was one thing that made her feel embarrassed. Even if she saved the entire amount from next year’s fund, she’d require at least 8 more years before she could get the test done. She’d have to find a way to earn some money at school. However she would worry about that later when she gets to Hogwarts.

Right now, there was a bigger problem brewing. She could see a few aurors and people gathered near the apothecary, it seemed the body had been discovered. She can’t show any weakness or change in her behaviour. She would have to go about her day as usual, all the while keeping her emotions and nerves in check. It was difficult but she’d persevere through it. 

Next order of things was to get rid of the blood soaked clothes. She wanted to burn them, and honestly it was much more risky for her to take them outside than using magic to burn them. She had the man’s wand and she could try using a fire making charm, the incantation and wand movements were simple and she had almost all spells she read fresh in mind thanks to her eidetic memory.

She hesitantly took the wand and went towards the bathroom locking it before gathering the blood-stained clothes into a heap. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she steadied her hand pointing the wand towards the small heap. 

“Incendio!” she spoke the incantation as perfectly as she remembered. A warm feeling coursed through her body and shot through her wand as she saw in amazement the clothes caught fire. 

Despite the tense situation she felt a sense of joy and pride fill her as this was the first time she truly performed some magic consciously. It made her feel complete, made her feel as if she belonged to this world now. She tried another spell and the tip of her wand lit up with a blue glow. And another to levitate the bar of soap. Shooting spell after spell she almost lost herself in the euphoria that washed over her from doing magic, she laughed heartily twirling on her feet forgetting the burning pile of clothes or the dead body across the alley or the aurors.

* * *

  
Around 1PM, just after lunchtime a pair of Aurors came into the bookstore while Hermione was stacking up a pile of books.

“Girl!” an auror with brown parted hair and grim face called as Hermione turned back, “Where’s the owner? Quillens!”

Hermione’s heart raced as she felt an ominous feeling creep, she put the books down shakily before looking up with a nervous glance, “Uhmm… He… he’s at the back of the store, Sir..”

“Call him, now!” the other auror with dark hair spoke looking around the shop.

“Yes, yes of course, one moment…” Hermione walked towards the back of the store with thoughts of escape running through her mind. She held her nerve somehow trying not to hyperventilate and shortly returned with Mr Quillens in tow.

“Yes, how may I help you… Auror…” Mr Quillens stood next to the counter.  
“Auror Dawlish! And that’s my partner Jenkins. We’re here for investigation about the murder case. There was a man murdered last night a few shops down the lane.” the man with brown hair replied.

“Oh, I closed the shop around 7PM last night. I don’t recall seeing anything. Besides it was raining quite heavily so I apparated home from the main door after shutting the shop.”

“Well, the time of death seems to be around 10.30-11PM. Did you know this man? his name was Phillip Mason.” Auror Jenkins pulled out an old photograph of the man.

“I have seen him on occasions in the alley but I haven’t met him personally. Hermione, do you know him?” Mr Quillens passed the photograph to Hermione who took it reluctantly. She stifled a gasp, looking at the picture brought back memories of the night. She didn’t quite have the nerve to reply verbally so she simply shook her head holding out the picture towards Mr Quillens.

“I’m sorry Auror Dawlish, we don’t have any information regarding the man.” Mr Quillens returned the photograph.

“Who is she?” Auror Jenkins asked, pointing at Hermione.

“Oh! Hermione? She works at my shop part time, and lives at Tom’s place. Works there part time too.” Mr Quillens remarked.

“Ms Hermione! Where were you last night?” Dawlish asked.

Hermione stood mutely trying not to panic, “I… I… sir”

“Don’t worry Hermione, they’re just doing routine investigation. You don’t need to worry. Just answer them calmly.”

Hermione nodded lightly, “I left the shop early last evening. I went home and then to Gringotts for some personal work. I left the bank around 8PM and went back home for the night.”

“What work did a little girl like you had at the bank?” Jenkins asked her this time.

“She’s an orphan, sir. She wanted to get an inheritance test done to find her family. I gave her the day off early since she was so excited.” Mr Quillens answered giving her a sad smile.

“So what did she fin-” Jenkins questioned back, however was cut off before he could finish.

“That’s quite enough, Jenkins. We have a lot more people to interrogate. I don’t think how her test results matter to the case. You think a little lass like her killed a full grown wizard?” Dawlish remarked, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

“But sir, what if she-” Jenkins tried to argue but was cut off again and this time his senior’s tone didn’t leave any room for arguments, “Come on, Jenkins!” Dawlish scoffed and left the shop with his partner in tow.

“Don’t mind them, Hermione. They were just doing routine enquiry, they didn’t mean to say you were responsible. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, it’s your last day anyway and there isn’t much work.” Mr Quillens tried to placate her, spotting a pale look on Hermione’s face.

“Thank you Mr Quillens, I’d like that. Can I come later around 6 to collect my pay? I’ll bring the book with me.” Hermione didn’t lift her gaze trying to keep herself look sombre.

“Oh yes, of course! I’ll keep it ready. Go on, take a bit of rest. I’ll see you later!”

“Sure, Bye Mr Quillens!” Hermione left the shop and walked as quickly as she could towards her room.

The moment she closed the door, she held the towel in her mouth before letting out a choked wail. 

* * *

1st September, 1991

Hermione took the floo from Leaky Cauldron to Kings Cross Platform 9 ¾. She was grateful to Tom for letting her know there’s another way to reach the platform.

She reached the platform quite early around 9.30AM excited to be going to Britain’s elite Wizarding School. The scarlet steam engine stood regally followed by old style carriages, the entire train seemingly appeared something out of an old children’s tale.

Hermione dragged her old trunk towards the train and entered the carriage. She went towards the end and found an empty compartment. She stacked her luggage on the shelf before sitting down on the plush seat near the window hoping she wouldn't be disturbed throughout the journey.

With a hoot and jerk the train finally chugged off the platform sharp at 11AM. Hermione’s shoulders lost some tension as she leaned back into the seat. Unable to keep still for long she dug through her trunk and pulled out a brand new copy of ‘Hogwarts: A History’.

She had already finished an older second hand copy of the same book during the summer, however this one was a gift from the bookstore owner. She was thankful for it, fiction didn’t quite intrigue her and this was one book that she could read to take her mind off things. She knew books weren’t the be-all and end-all of life, however it didn’t hurt to have some extra knowledge at hand even if it was bookish.

Halfway into the journey Hermione was enjoying the silence as the train chugged through picturesque meadows, she was about a quarter way through the book when a knock interrupted her.

A pudgy boy nervously peeked in, “Ex.. Excuse me! Have you seen Trevor?”

Hermione eyed the boy critically from his face to his expensive robes down to his nervous behaviour. He reeked clumsiness with the way he spoke. She didn’t have the time or patience to deal with pampered rich goofs or goofs in general. Yes, that was her first impression of the boy.

The boy meanwhile shifted nervously on his feet expecting an answer, “I’m sorry, Trevor’s my toad. I accidentally kept the lid open and he escaped. My uncle gifted it to me when I got my letter!”

This confirmed her initial judgement and couldn’t stop the sneer crossing her face as she responded, “I don’t know any toads or any Trevor. Fat luck finding a toad on a full train!”

Watching the boy’s face sink in disappointment she sighed hitting her head on the backrest, “Ughh! Go down the carriage, one of the prefects or older students might help you summon it.”

“Oh! Th..th.thanks! Sorry to disturb you!” he stuttered before rushing out the compartment.

Hermione groaned rubbing her face, she really wished she didn’t share House with him. She really needed to stop wishing that. There weren’t many kids her age whom she would genuinely like. Mostly because quite a few of them were either bigoted, childish or both, which she couldn’t fault it to them, it was more like her life was an exception, not theirs. 

Rest of the journey was quite uneventful, however she did get to ride a magical boat through the lake. She felt mesmerized by the view and was gobstruck when the enormous castle came into view. They were then escorted to the Great Hall by a stern looking woman in dark green robes and a pointy black hat.

She had read everything about the houses and really there was only one House that fit her perfectly. She was ambitious and cunning with the right amount of self preservation. However, it was the same sense of self preservation that screamed inside her head to avoid sorting into her rightful House. 

A lesser House would be a perfect place to hide although she lacked the important abilities most of them desired. She was courageous but not noble enough to be a Gryffindor, she liked to learn new things, however that was only things which would help further herself which meant Ravenclaw was out of question. She was hardworking, yet she wasn’t loyal and trusting. She would never trust a human implicitly unless they earn it and the only person she was loyal to was herself. No, she was certainly not a worthy Hufflepuff. Hopefully whatever magic was being used to sort would give her options.

The entire Great Hall awaited the spectacle to begin as each and every student sitting with their colourful House ties and robes eyed the first years judging them critically.

Hermione came out of her stupor as Professor McGonagall announced the first name. A pink faced girl with pigtails walked past her stepping on to the dias and sat nervously on the stool. Professor placed a rickety old hat on her head which shortly screamed the girl’s House out loud and the table on the far right side with Yellow & Black exploded in cheers and claps. The sorting continued in the order of last names and not long afterwards the professor read the name pointedly looking in her direction, “Granger, Hermione! Please step forward.”

Hermione stepped on the dias and sat on the stool nervously holding on to its sides while the Professor lowered the hat on her head. She closed her eyes assuming some sort of magic would course through her judging her traits.

An amused laugh echoed through her mind causing her to jump, ‘That is not how it works, Ms Granger.’

‘What! Are you the hat? How did you know what I was thinking?’ Hermione panicked breathing hard, gripping the stool until her knuckles were white.

‘I’m merely an enchanted hat Ms Granger. Don’t worry your secrets are absolutely safe. Every bit of them. Let’s have a closer look then, forged in Fire, you truly had an eventful life, I’ve seen something similar decades ago, but that’s not why we’re here. You have a rather cunning streak and quite ambitious despite the zeal to learn. It would be a shame to sort you anywhere else.’

‘Not there please! Please let me go to any other House! Not Slytherin! Please Not Slytherin!’ Hermione chanted through her mind while the hat analysed her mind.

‘Hmmmm, Not Slytherin, eh? Such a shame, fine I’ll accede Ms Granger. However, it’s a shame considering your family.’

‘What! My family! You know my family? Plea-’ Hermione’s mind whirled at the last statement, however before she could go further the hat continued with a gruff laugh, ‘Enjoy your stay Ms Granger. Let’s see what you do in...’ “GRYFFINDOR!” 


	5. A new day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Welcome to the Chapter 5 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Speech ""  
> Thoughts ''  
> Parseltongue $$
> 
> AN: Apologies for the delay, this was supposed to come out last Saturday on Hermione's birthday, however I was caught up in repairing my dad's desktop and sister's laptop (Really I should start charging money for it, but I digress)
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.

Although not ideal, Hermione grudgingly accepted her sorting. She did ask the hat after all to not be placed in Slytherin, being in Gryffindor gave her the perfect cover to stay hidden within the Lion’s den. No one would ever suspect a ‘Muggleborn Gryffindor’ to be a murderer. 

The aurors were still on the hunt for the killer back in London and she was safe up in the Scottish Highlands, however distance hardly had any meaning when people could travel several hundred kilometers in the blink of an eye. She still felt paranoid about getting caught and losing her carefully constructed life in the wizarding world.

Another thing that bugged her even more was the cryptic old sorting piece of rag. She deduced as much from the hat’s words that her family or at least part of it was sorted in Slytherin House at some point of time during their Hogwarts schooling. That answered one question about her lineage that she could be a Pureblood or at least a Half-blood witch, however, it raised another big question, ‘Why did her parents give her up at Hildreth House? Did they hate her? Was she an unwanted child? Or if something happened to them.’

With every question she found the only way to move forward will be to get that test done, only then can she start the search for her parents. If they’re still alive and if they still want her was something that she could worry about later. She didn’t know any magical Gods and she didn’t believe in the muggle one since they were just that, a mythical entity worshipped by the weak and the deep scar shaped as the 'Holy Cross' on her body in addition to the multitude of marks that reminded her every moment of the torment she suffered at the hands of Sister Alphonso and Mother Superior. 

That was something she tried to forget but every once in a while they’d come back to haunt her dreams causing her to wake up gasping for breath covered in cold sweat. This is what got her awake at this ungodly hour.

If it were up to her she would march back to Hildreth House and really show both her tormentors what a real witch is. The hate she held for them was unparalleled to anything and cemented the fact that no one’s truly good, not even the custodians of ‘Muggle Gods’ appointed to care for children.

Shaking her head, she tried to clear those thoughts, this wasn’t the time for revenge, this was time to pave a future for her, a future where she wouldn’t be weak enough to be taken for granted by muggles or magicals.

Hermione got off her bed which was furthest from the door and right next to the huge victorian style stone windows. She walked a few steps before settling down on the cold window sill big enough to seat her comfortably. The night was stormy and huge drops of rain smashed against the closed windows. She gazed into the distance with her mind racing from one thought to another.

This was her first night at Hogwarts and marked a new beginning in her life. She made a vow to herself to be strong… powerful, yet she didn’t have a direction. In a world where family’s name was everything, how would she rise up without one. In her limited experience she found only two ways, one was fortune and other was fear. Malfoy and Potter leaned towards fortune and the other person she read about leaned towards fear. It was always an interesting read, although she never really liked the blood purity nonsense he spouted.

However, through his fall and Potter’s rise, she did learn one thing that mattered the most, Power! What no one really noticed or didn’t care of was his true identity. Really, ‘Voldemort’? There was no such family in wizarding Britain nor was there any such reference and it was clearly a pseudonym hiding his true identity. However, it was clear that the sheep and wolves of the wizarding world would either cower with fear or follow the one with power.

It was a long way to go, but first she needed money; money to find out more about her family. She needed to get that out of her way, she wanted that closure, to remove the nagging doubts she had. The blurry vision of the man with glowing eyes and the woman with auburn hair was another recurring dream which bugged her the most. She really wished she could remember something more, however the only memories she had were from Hildreth House and she would rather forget those if it was up to her.

Hermione didn’t know how long she sat there contemplating, but it was clearly morning as the sun was beginning to peek through the horizon. This meant she didn’t really have much time to get ready before the other girls in her dorm woke up. 

She rummaged through her trunk and rushed towards the bath with a fresh pair of robes. Right before she went into the shower stall she caught a look of her own back. She knew her entire back was marred with minor scars, however she never really got used to looking at the ugly reminders of her ineptitude. 

She moved closer towards the huge mirror above the sink, ghosting her fingers over the deepest and darkest scar of the holy cross. Her eyes flinched and her hands pulled back instinctively the moment she touched it. The pain was more psychological than anything, she really wished it didn’t affect her so much. Maybe one day she would move past it. She let out a deep sigh before getting into the shower.

* * *

The class schedule was quite elementary from Hermione’s perspective. She was used to a packed schedule with back to back classes at her muggle school. Here, she barely had any workload, hardly 2 to 3 classes a day. And the assignments were pretty simple considering she already knew the course material before coming to Hogwarts. 

She sat in the library working on one of the assignments when she overheard a couple of first year girls talking. She couldn’t help but wonder what’s so difficult about the assignments that they were whining constantly. After all she completed hers almost a couple of days back.

A wide smile graced her face as she found the perfect answer to one of her own issues. Hermione packed her books and parchment before quietly approaching the table where both girls sat working on their own assignments.  
“Hello!” Hermione greeted the duo who looked up from their parchments.

“Yes, Granger?” Parvati Patil responded with an exasperated sigh.

“Well, you both seem very frustrated. Is it the Transfiguration assignment, that’s due tomorrow?” Hermione replied smoothly.

“It is! What’s it to you?” Lavender cut in shortly.

“Look, we’re already pressed for time and don’t have time to play games. So why don’t you come to the point, Granger!” Parvati gave her a sharp look.

Hermione put her bag on the chair before taking the chair next to both of them, “Fine! You know how strict McGonagall is if you don’t turn in assignments, right? And also if those aren’t up to the mark.”

“We know that. I assume you’re here to help us somehow. Is it?” Lavender held her friend’s hand when she tried to interject.

“Of course I am! I’ll help you both with the assignments.” Hermione gave a toothy smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “But you’d have to pay for it.”

“What! You want us to pay you for doing our assignments! Are you nuts, we don’t need your ‘Help’. Bye, Granger!” Parvati exclaimed, feeling indignant at the proposal. What does this girl think of them, they weren’t dunderheads.

“Fine, if that’s what you want… I’ll just leave you both to it.” Hermione picked her bag giving them a nod and turned towards the exit.

“Wait! Granger! Come back!” Lavender called as Parvati cut in, “What are you doing, Lav? We can’t do this. We can finish this if we spend more time on it.”

Hermione stopped in her tracks feeling triumphant, she schooled her features before turning back to the girls whispering furiously amongst themselves. She stood there arms crossed expectantly while they went back and forth.

Parvati finally acceded and gave an imperceptible nod. Lavender grinned in excitement, if it worked out she’d have a lot of free time to herself. Hermione smirked as Lavender beckoned her to the empty chair.

Lavender looked around to see if anyone was listening in before she spoke in a quiet tone, “Fine, we agree. We need you to help us with the assignments. How much do you want?”

“Excellent choice, Brown. Now, you have two options, first is I give you pointers you can expand upon yourselves. Second, I give you the finished assignment, you can copy it in your handwriting on a parchment.” Hermione held up her hand before they could cut her off, “The first option would cost you 2 Sickles per person and the second would cost 10 sickles which would give you at least an ‘Acceptable’ grade. And now, you make your choice.”

“10 sickles? That is too much.” Parvati huffed.

Hermione leaned back on her chair, “Is it? I thought you hail from a rich family, or is that just a hoax Patil? Be that as it may, those are my charges, you can choose to agree or don’t! It’s all up to you both. Decide fast!”

“Come on, We have to do this! We’ve discussed this already, back me up.” Lavender urged her friend.

Parvati sighed, “Alright, fine. Just this once, Lav. Fine Granger, we’ll take option two. But make sure our assignments are different from each other. We’ll pay you once you give us the assignments.”

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it? Very well, I’ll hand you the assignments tomorrow before breakfast. Now, I must get going” Hermione picked her bag and turned to leave before leaning down towards the duo, “And one more thing! I don’t like snitches, so better be careful. It won’t bode well if… Well, you’re smart enough.” She turned around and left the library leaving a stunned pair of girls behind.

Lavender and Parvati were extremely happy with the assignments and received a decent grade. Hermione found a few more students over the coming week and her illegitimate business was running in full boom. She was very happy, at this rate she’ll have a 1000 galleons in a couple of years.

Now, the classes were an experience in itself. Transfiguration, Charms and Potions were something she loved the most. Each Professor had their own style from stern to lenient to slightly biased against her House, yet she loved it regardless. The last one mostly because it was free entertainment with Professor Snape targeting Potter and Weasley along with a few other Gryffindors, except her, surprisingly.

History of Magic was basically a joke and a free lecture for everyone to snooze. The professor was a ghost who didn’t know he died. Really, no one informed him? Even nearly headless Nick knew he was dead. She wondered what would happen if someone confronted the ghost of Professor Binns.

Defense Against Dark Arts, the class she was mostly looking forward to, was nothing like she expected. Professor Quirrel, the DADA teacher was a stuttering mess while the entire classroom reeked of garlic. Another thing that put her on alert was a very minute but bothersome thing where the Professor would steal weird glances in her direction throughout the class. She left the class as soon as she could, not wanting to spend another moment in his presence than she had to.

* * *

  
DADA Classroom, A week ago…

The moment the first year Gryffindors walked into his class, the Dark Lord hidden beneath Quirrell’s turban felt propitious. It wasn’t the feeling one got from confronting an enemy, rather it was as if a person he felt fondness for, if love was too harsh of a term, was close by, something which confused him very much. It was difficult perceiving what were his own feelings and what could have been Quirrell’s seeping through their connection. 

A girl with a familiar name caught his eye, the little girl with dark bushy hair and cold eyes sat right at the back of the class. She looked slightly smaller in frame than others, although not malnourished, she did have a thin body. She was the right age too, could it be her? No, that wasn’t possible, this was some muggleborn with the same name.

He couldn’t keep his eyes off her, she intrigued him more, even more so than his archenemy Harry Potter seated a few rows in front of her. He kept stealing glances at her when no one noticed, except her. He knew the girl was aware of his attention on her, reinforced by the fact that she left the class the moment he dismissed them.

Once he was alone, Quirrell took control and removed the turban after locking and securing the room. His usual stutter gone once he was alone with the Dark Lord, “Master! What just happened? You were focussed throughout the class on the mudblood. I thought with Potter ther-”

A raspy voice replied from the back of his head, his features contorting over Quirrel’s bald head as he spoke, “Do not assume what I will or won’t focus on Quirrell. I would have crucio’d you for your insolence had I not been so merciful. Keep an eye out for the girl, if she is who I think, then she needs to be protected until I get my body back! Is that understood?”

“Ye..yess Master!”

* * *

  
Present day, September 19th, 1991

“Ms Granger!” a stuttering voice called out from behind as Hermione passed by the DADA classroom towards the Library. Hermione stopped in her tracks, her hand going towards the small paring knife she started keeping on her person. There was no way she could best a trained adult wizard in magic, teacher or not she would not hold back if he tried anything funny. She turned around cautiously as he continued, “I… I’d like to s..s..spp.. speak with you for a m..m.. moment in my of..ff..office.”

She reluctantly nodded and stepped into the classroom that led to his office. He shut the doors non-verbally and erected wards. Hermione felt hysterical and gripped the knife hard trying to keep her composure.

He stepped closer to her however, before he could speak she lost any grip she had on her emotions and kicked him on his shin causing him to lose balance and stumble. Hermione took the opportunity to kick him back on the ground and pinning him on his back. She held the paring knife dangerously close to the professor’s jugular. Her eyes flashed red and her breathing was erratic as she leaned in closer snarling, “Do not try anything stupid, Professor! I will not hesitate to kill you if you dare harm me!”

She dug the knife edge closer to his neck, nicking his skin slightly to cause a small streak of blood to trickle on to the floor.

Quirrell was trying hard not to flinch, his master wouldn’t spare him if he let her know of his existence at this moment and also if he were to retaliate back and harm the girl. He didn’t know what importance this girl held for his master, however it was a test for him as the Dark Lord wanted him to guide the girl towards the Arts. 

He swallowed hard trying to piece a non-threatening reply, “Ms… Ms Granger, please! I mean no harm. Hear me out, please. I’ll give you an oath on my magic if it satisfies you, but please loosen the grip, the knife… it… it’s starting to hurt a bit.”

“Fine, but my warning still stands! One wrong move and I’ll rip your breath away.” Hermione stepped back and he got to his feet adjusting his turban slightly. 

He held his wand hand up non-threateningly, “Don’t do anything rash, Ms Granger. I only meant to talk. Now, I’m going to bring my wand out and give you that oath so that we can talk, ok?” 

He slowly pulled his wand out and kept it pointing up as Hermione nodded, “Good, now I’ll give you that oath and you will then lower that knife. I, Quirinus Quirrell, hereby vow on my magic that I shall not harm Ms Hermione Granger in any manner intentional whatsoever. So mote it be!”

A bluish glow encompassed both, settling into a thin thread between the duo before vanishing completely. Hermione felt the adrenaline rush subside as she controlled her breathing and lowered the knife, “I am sorry, professor!” However there was nothing apologetic in her tone.

Quirrell proceeded to fix the nick with a quick episkey before turning towards her, “It’s alright, Ms Granger. I am even more impressed than before. I called to speak with you because I see potential. You have proved me right once again, that you have what it takes to succeed. Now I hav-”

“You have lost your fake stutter, professor.” Hermione cut in shortly

“Astute observation, Ms Granger. We all need our masks to cover our true face. You have one too, so it would be hypocritical of you to condemn me.”

“What? I… I don’t have a mask, profes-”

“Please, Ms Granger. I know a Dark Witch when I see one.” He tilted his head slightly as a smirk etched on his face while he continued, “You need not fear me, only those who would condemn you. As I said, I don’t mean any harm, in fact if you would accept I’d like to guide you in improving yourselves. Now, you have learnt most of the light spells in your curriculum and you’d continue to learn those along the way. However, have you thought about other spells and magic which are darker, those may or may not have been banned by the ministry?” 

“Sir, if this is a way for you to get me to confess to anything, I’m not stupid enough to voice my opinions in front of a professor.” Hermione was trying to understand what’s his motive, she attacked him, nearly slit his throat, yet he was being so… helpful? There had to be another reason, no one helps another without a motive.

Quirrell was impressed and also exasperated, “Ms Granger, have I not given an oath? Then pray tell why would I harm you and make myself practically a squib? If you still do not trust me, you are free to leave, but if I have to let go any tact and put it bluntly, this is a one time opportunity I’m offering to help you learn more magic, defensive and offensive. However, you are not to speak of this with anyone outside this room in either case.”

Hermione contemplated silently for a while, she was still suspicious, more out of her own paranoia than anything, however she couldn’t miss the opportunity to learn a branch of magic very few people knew about. Quirrell waited patiently before turning around to leave the office, she called out, “Fine! I’m in, professor!”

Quirrell looked over his shoulder nodding appreciatively, “Wait here, Ms Granger. I cannot write passes to the restricted section without arousing suspicion, however I do have a few books that would help.” He returned back shortly holding 3 leather-bound journals with faded covers, “Here, take these Ms Granger. I have charmed the books, so to anyone else it would appear as one of your mundane course books, however do exercise caution. I would suggest reading it in the confines of your dorm, alone.”

“Thank you, professor! I’m sorry for doubt-” Professor Quirrell held up a hand as Hermione tried to apologize, this time much more genuinely.

“Think nothing of it, Ms Granger. Just continue being cautious as you are. First rule of defense, instincts never lead you wrong.” Quirrell waved his wand towards the door and unlocked it nonverbally.

Hermione took it as a cue of being dismissed and turned towards the exit excited to get started on her new books. 

_$$Happy Birthday my dearrrrr…$$_ the Dark Lord hissed quietly in parseltongue watching his daughter leave oblivious to his existence.


	6. Trolls and Tattles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Welcome to the Chapter 6 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Speech ""  
> Thoughts ''  
> Parseltongue $$
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.

With the amount of homework and the bit of side-hustle she was doing, combined with the Dark Arts she spent her time learning, Hermione barely realized 2 months had already passed since she first stepped foot at Hogwarts.

There had been no shortage of entertainment either. The flying class was a spectacle she won’t forget for a long time. Between the instructor’s warning on flying in her absence, Malfoy’s petty attempts at taunting and Potter’s death defying stunts for a petty glass ball, it had been extremely fun to watch the show until the very end when, like a true example of bias Professor McGonagall swooped in and rewarded everyone’s favourite lion with a free spot on the House Quidditch team.

It amused her to no end how many rules were being flaunted when she saw a bunch of owls deliver a top-of-the-line broom to their newest and youngest seeker. She did feel a pang of hurt though. Granted that she wasn’t famous however she was also an orphan who came from the muggle world, yet no one cared one bit how she lived and survived. 

Hermione sat working on an assignment for Lavender in the Gryffindor Common Room on one of the secluded study tables away from the fireplace when she felt someone watching her. She glanced a look over her shoulders and it was none other than the duo of The-Boy-Who-Lived and his trusty sidekick. She simply shook her head feeling exasperated at their incessant awkward looks over the past few days. It was honestly bugging her to no end why they simply don’t talk to her and get done with whatever their pea-sized brain is fussing over.

A few moments later she felt a presence right behind her but chose not to initiate and continued to work. Harry and Ron stood near her whispering amongst themselves, hesitation evident in the way they stood. 

“What do you want, Potter?” Hermione asked without looking up from the parchment, “Such creepy behaviour is not expected from The-boy-who-lived, you know.”

“Uhmm, nothing.” Harry replied unsurely.

“Then why don’t you both make yourself scarce.” she quipped back, “As you can see I am quite busy.”

“Hey! Don’t talk to him like that.” Ron stepped closer.

“Mmhmmm, and why not?” Hermione finally looked up, scrunched her nose and poked the quill on Weasley’s chest to push him a step back, “Better. Yes, now tell me. Why shouldn’t I talk to him or rather you both ‘like that’”

“Beca-” 

“Hold on, don’t answer that. I don’t want to hear a long tirade about why he’s so great. Rather, why don’t you tell me what you want so that I can get back to my work and you both could crawl back to whatever it is that you do.”

“Hermi-”

“Granger” she cut Harry off as he tried to get in a word, “I haven’t permitted you to use my first name.”

“Oh, okay. Granger, we actually wanted some help with our charms assignments. I haven’t been getting much time with Quidditch practice and the forbidde-”

“Hagrid! He means Quidditch practice and visiting Hagrid near the Forbidden Forest.” Ron exclaimed trying to drown out Harry.

“Uh yeah, Hagrid. So we thought you could maybe help us out with the assignments.” Harry felt a bit relieved, he almost blurted out about the Forbidden corridor which was being guarded by a monster.

“Ughh, I have no interest in your games Potter. If you need my help it’ll cost you both. 12 sickles per assignment.” Hermione went back to writing on her parchment.

“What? You want 24 sickles for helping on homework?” Ron exclaimed.

“Do you live under a rock? Yes, I charge some cash for helping out with assignments. So What?” This was beginning to really annoy her now. She’d rather not help them if she could but she wanted the money too.

“You know that’s wrong, Granger. If the teachers-” Harry felt disgusted, it was once again she reminded him of some people he grew up watching at his muggle school. He was cut off mid-way as she stood up in a flash and threateningly invaded his personal space.

She snarled, gritting her teeth, “Is that a threat, Potter? I don’t take kindly to threats, you know. For your own sake, do not cross me… Ever... Now take your little sidekick and get lost.”

“Why you stuck up littl-” Harry physically stopped Ron from causing a scene in the common room. The few people in the common room were watching the exchange intently.

“No, Ron. Leave it be, it’s no use. Come on, we’ll do the assignments ourselves in the Library.”

Harry pulled his agitated friend away from the table. Hermione could hear the gingerhead complain as they walked off towards the exit. She went back to her parchment, it would be a waste of time to dwell her anger on inconsequential matters. 

* * *

  
31st October, Halloween

Professor Flitwick finally let the class do some practical work on the levitation charm. The class was divided into pairs and every student was given their own feather to try and levitate. It was difficult to determine who was angrier, Ron or Hermione, for being forced to work together. Hermione felt it was a cruel punishment and would rather serve detentions with Filch than work with Ronald Weasley. 

“Remember children, it’s swish and flick, like this.” Professor Flitwick perched atop a pile of books, demonstrated with an elegant movement of his wand, “Once everyone has the movement down, you could begin trying to levitate the feather. The magic words are ‘Win-gar-dium Levi-O-sa’. Go on, nice and easy, swish and flick, just like we practiced.”

Hermione already knew the charm, having practiced it a bit during the summer, she waited until someone else got it. She didn’t really want to draw much attention to herself. However, she didn't have much hope from the rest of her classmates, especially not the gingerhead sitting next to her.

A few moments later the chirping throughout the class was disturbed by a bang and smoke coming up from a thoroughly smoked feather. Craning her head, she saw it was unsurprisingly Finnigan with a bit of his own hair standing on ends, face covered with soot. Professor Flitwick cleaned him up and provided another feather before the class went back to trying the spell.

Meanwhile, Ron felt frustrated at the lack of movement by his spell. Why couldn't the spells be simpler like point the wand and say daisies and sunshine. It always irked him to read those thick books, reading theory was so boring. He would rather watch Chudley Cannons play or atleast ride a broom. Harry had been kind enough to let him ride his Nimbus, it was an amazing feeling. He missed it already and the lack of success at the spell made him all the more miserable. He spoke the words and repeatedly tried to flick the wand at the feather.

"Let me know once you're done trying to murder the feather, Weasley." Hermione mocked watching him butcher up both the incantation as well as the hand movements.

Ron's cheeks flared up, "Why don't you do it if you're so clever?"

Hermione raised her eyes and sat up straighter.

"Go on, I'm watching." Ron egged.

"Very well" Hermione picked her wand, swished and flicked pointing it towards the feather, "Win-gar-dium Levi-O-sa!" She felt the warmth of magic coursing through her wand, her lips ticking into a winning smile as the feather lifted into the air moving left and right at the tune of her wand.

The noise around her died down as everyone looked at her effortlessly playing around with the feather. She was brought out of her trance when she heard the familiar voice of the Charms professor, "Well done, Ms Granger! That's an excellent demonstration. Take 10 points for Gryffindor."

She simply nodded with a smirk towards Ron. His words backfiring so badly made him feel even more flustered. In a fit of anger he blurted, "Sir, she's a cheat!"

"Mr Weasley, what is the meaning of this! Why are you disrupting the class?" Flitwick questioned him.

"Professor, Hermione is a cheat. She sells assignments to students." Ron rushed to pull rolls of parchments from Hermione's bag lying next to her before she could grab his hands, "See, multiple copies. She sells them at 12 sickles a piece."

Flitwick summoned the parchments, "My word! Is this true Ms Granger?"

"No professor, Weasley's lying. He's simply jealous of me." Hermione tried to defend herself. The glare she gave Weasley promised a whole lot of pain.

"I'm afraid these parchments say otherwise, Ms Granger. Each one has a name initial marked on top. Since this is your first mistake, I'll only give you a week's detention. If you are caught again, I shall report this to the Headmaster and you shall be expelled for misconduct."

"But prof-" Hermione felt her eyes burn, tears welled up, however she tried to reign it in. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction at least.

"But nothing, Ms Granger. You will report to Argus Filch before dinner for a week for your detention. I will keep these parchments and pass them to other professors to validate any such instances."

Ron sat feeling happy about himself. Finally the chit had been put in place. That'll be enough for refusing to help them and showing him up in class.

Harry felt guilty, Ron shouldn't have ratted on Granger. Such behaviour would only cause more trouble, besides the girl didn't deserve such punishment. She was merely doing something on the sides for herself. Dean did mention once that she was an orphan muggleborn. He'd ask Ron to apologize later on probably after dinner. They had much more serious matters to concentrate upon, like what's beneath the trapdoor or what is that three headed monster and if it’s guarding the same package Hagrid managed to save from Gringotts thief.

Hermione meanwhile stewed in anger, she didn't speak another word looking down on her desk feeling one part embarrassed, one part dejected at losing her little business. No one knew how important these precious little coins were for her. Ronald fucking Weasley will pay for it, she would make sure of it. It was now personal, no one crosses her, not now or ever.

She packed her stuff and left pushing past Potter in the corridor once the class was over. She spent the afternoon trying to calm herself down and an hour at Professor Quirrell's office reading up on the materials he provided before she left to complete her detention with Filch.

She was thoroughly exhausted and humiliated after mopping up the girl's bathroom. The girls from Gryffindor knew better not to antagonise Hermione and generally refrained from mocking though Patil seemed to empathize with her a bit, gave her a sad smile before she left the bathroom.

Filch left towards his office and she went in the other direction towards the Great Hall to catch-up some much needed dinner.

"It would be advisable if you took the other route and went directly to the Gryffindor tower."

Hermione lifted her head to see a familiar face, "Professor? Why aren't you at the feast?"

"We could worry about it some other day Ms Granger. Now heed my advice and please return to your common room. I would hate to see you injured."

"Your stutte-"

"No one can hear us Ms Granger. It's going to be dangerous here in a very short while. I trust you will keep it a secret, now please return. All will be revealed in due time." Quirrell cut her off shortly, time was of essence and he had to inform the Great Hall to make his plan work. 

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow professor. Good night." Hermione gave a short nod and took off towards the Gryffindor tower. She really didn't know what was going on but it couldn't have been good if he risked his stutter in the open. She had no qualms about him, he was a dark wizard with his own agenda, however she had come to respect him over the past month and half where he was tutoring her in the Dark Arts. She would try to keep out of his way and his little secret just that, a secret, at least until it's advantageous to her.

There wasn't much to do so she took a long hot shower and settled into her bed. She rummaged through her bag and found an apple she took from the breakfast table earlier that day. It wasn't much but would have to do for the time being.

She wasn't in any mood for classwork with all the drama in Charms class, so instead she pulled her bed curtains closed and snuck out her copy of Magiks Moste Tenebrae.

Barely 10 minutes into her book, she heard footsteps near the door. Hermione stored the book safely and opened the curtains. It was Fay Dunbar, the other shy girl from their year.

"Oh! Granger? You weren't at the feast?" Fay was surprised to see Hermione already changed for bed. She just assumed that Hermione would be with them at the feast.

Hermione responded cautiously, "I was in detention, remember? I came straight to our dorms as I was tired. What happened, I didn't think the feast would finish until another hour or so."

“We’ve been sent back to our common rooms. Professor Quirrell reported a troll in the dungeons. The elves have got some food down by the fireplace if you need some.” Fay replied.

“Oh! A troll you say.” Hermione said, “Thanks Dunbar. I’ll probably grab something later. Good night.” She closed the curtains and settled back to read her book with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if you liked/disliked the fic please do leave a comment. I love to read what you've got to say.  
> Cheers!


	7. Mirror of Erised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Welcome to the Chapter 7 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Speech ""  
> Thoughts ''  
> Parseltongue $$
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.

Even a couple of weeks post Halloween, all Hermione could hear was how two brave Gryffindor boys trapped the troll inside the girl's bathroom. On the other hand none of her usual clients spoke to her in public or otherwise with the fear of being caught or bundled as a culprit alongside her in the whole Homework scam. Honestly it made her sick when Potter and Weasley came in for the sham of an apology. She could easily make out Potter was there out of pity and Weasley because of Potter.

She bit back on a retort when both tried to apologize, merely giving them a haughty glare, she walked away from them. It wasn't the right moment, as they were being lauded by the school for catching the troll. It would be a sureshot way to paint a target on her back if she were to retaliate at this point in time.

Without much to do in her free time, which was honestly quite a lot given the lack of assignments she had to write, Hermione decided to split her time between sessions with Professor Quirrell and keeping an eye on Potter. He surely had some secrets, if she can’t harm them she could at least try and benefit from them. After all they did owe her a lot of galleons, the least she could do was lighten their pockets for a bit.

Even after a week or so of trying to listen in on their conversations and following them around, she hardly got any solid information other than something which was moved from Gringotts. They didn’t have a clue what was moved by the giant Gamekeeper nor how it looked. The only thing she came to know was that it was something related to the forbidden corridor and was in a brown paper bag.

She couldn’t believe when fate gave her a golden chance at getting close to Potter. Someone was jinxing Potter’s broom in broad daylight during their Quidditch match with Slytherin. She pulled on Longbottom’s binoculars and a quick scan through the crowd showed everyone was either horrified at the malfunctioning broom or were speaking amongst themselves. Two people however had their eyes stuck to the broom. She wasn’t a fool to think that Professor Snape would mutter a dark jinx on the broom in front of other staff. That left it to the other person who was capable and could have a motive; Quirrell.

After observing him for a few more moments it was clear he was non-verbally maintaining the jinx on the broom and likely Professor Snape was trying to save the boy. She knew the jinx in theory, after all Professor Quirrell’s book had a reference to it and it did mention the caster needs to have eye contact in order to maintain it on the object.

Hermione had an important decision to make, to come in Quirrell’s way and earn Potter’s trust or to watch Potter likely get injured. Either way she would win, though she would have far more benefits if she helped Potter for the time being. 

“It’s Snape, look!” Hermione said loud enough to get Hagrid and Ron’s attention.

“What? Why would Professor Sna-” Hagrid said before he was cut off.

“You need to have eye contact for that kind of dark jinx. Here, look he’s cursing the broom.” Hermione passed them the binoculars and before he could say she added, “We need to stop him. You guys keep an eye on him, I’ll go and distract him.”

With a sense of urgency she passed through the stands and entered the stands where both professors sat. She didn’t want to risk exposing Quirrell yet, so she created fire in the stand causing everyone to panic. Accidentally Professor Snape’s robes caught fire and he pushed aside Quirrell and Professor Babbling trying to douse it. It worked as Potter climbed his broom taking control of it and ended up winning the game for the Gryffindors.

She went back to Weasley and he thanked her seemingly forgetting that he snitched on her not more than a few weeks ago. Hermione gave him and Hagrid a practiced wide smile good enough to charm a Hippogriff into submission. This gave her the chance to get an ear close to whatever was cooking between Potter and Weasley. 

It turned out the school was hiding something important. Important enough for the headmaster to place some monster in the forbidden corridor. Important enough that Quirrell was willing to let a troll inside the school. Important enough that it was between the Headmaster and some Nicholas Flamel. Important enough to be extremely valuable for everyone involved. 

After an awkward walk back to the common room Harry once again apologized and thanked her for saving him from Snape. This time however, she smiled with a light nod and walked away towards the stairs leading up to the girls dormitory.

Hermione spent her weekend inside the library going through reference books. She knew she read something about that name a while ago. After spending a day and half searching for that name she finally found a small reference that made her heart skip a beat. 

_‘Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel are the only known sorcerers and alchemists to have created the fabled Philosopher’s Stone. An elixir made from the stone has been known to stop ageing and it can be used to turn any object into pure gold when combined with a reactive catalyst…’_

She noted it down on a parchment with the book and page reference. She would share the info when it’s of the optimum advantage for her; for the time being she would let the losers stew in desperation.

Hermione entered Quirrell’s office and sat on her usual desk perusing through the notes she made during their last session. She would need to practice the spells today albeit with the Professor's wand to minimize any chances of someone finding out.

“Ms Granger, I see you’re quite early. Aren’t we a wee bit eager to practice spells now.” Quirrell said with a smirk.

“Oh, yes Professor. I would love to get started as soon as I can. I have another appointment-” Hermione replied before she was cut off.

“Ah yes. You seem to be developing friendship with Mr Potter and young Mr Weasley. I’ve noticed.” he said with slightly more bite as he finished.

“I don’t think my personal matters are of any concern, Professor. Besides, it’s just temporary.”

“Well, be that as it may, I would request you to exercise caution. Dumbledore is very protective of Potter and Weasley, so whatever little game you intend to play, keep in mind that the Headmaster may start interfering in your life if he deems it necessary.” Quirrell replied with a stern face.

“What interest has the Headmaster in my life? For him, like most people I’m just a measly muggleborn of no consequence.”

“For now you are just that, but Dumbledore doesn’t like anyone disrupting his pawns and it’ll be a matter of time when he ropes you in to whatever little plan his mind concocts. Heed my words if you don’t want trouble from him.”

Hermione nodded sagely, she would have to rethink her game, “Fine… I’ll keep away from them. Now, can we begin?”

“Certainly. Before we start, how are your occlumency exercises coming through. Are you following the book I gave you?” Quirrell asked as he took a seat opposite Hermione.

“I have been doing them for an hour every day. It’s not like I have much to do anyways.”

“Ah yes, the little homework business. I’ve heard all about it in the classroom. Your head of house was particularly… peeved, I must say.” There was a hint of amusement in the way he said the last part which didn’t go unnoticed by her.

“Yes, well I don’t care how they feel. I need that money and I’ll find another way to get it.” Hermione sneered.

“I have no doubts about that. However, why do you need so much at this point? I presume you have already secured a place to stay and enough to sustain a couple of years during your holidays.” 

“I need to know who I am,” Hermione gritted out, “I need to find my family, why the hell was I abandoned to a bloody muggle orphanage and what the freaking hell happened.”

“Excuse me, professor.” She packed her books and left his office hastily before he could get in a word.

“Master, she…” Quirrell spoke once the door closed.

“Not yet Quirrell, not yet.” a raspy voice echoed from the back of his head. “Concentrate on finding the stone.”

“Yes, master.”

* * *

  
Over the next few weeks Hermione kept her distance from both Potter as well as Quirrell. She was appalled at herself for showing weakness in front of the professor. Her anger at the headmaster grew now that she knew of his interest in Potter. She didn’t want another person trying to play her like a pawn, she had enough of that growing up. If at all, she wanted to be the Queen of the board and when her reign begins she would ensure there’s no one against her.

  
Christmas was coming. Hogwarts woke up one morning to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The atmosphere once again turned festive as most of the student body opted to board the Hogwarts express back to London in a week and half.

The common room and their dorms were probably the coziest place followed by the Great Hall with the fireplaces roaring in full flow. The corridors were particularly drafty and the windows rattled with icy winds smashing against them all day.

With the cold setting in, the corridors became deserted as the students and teachers preferred the comfort of their offices and dorms after class. This meant she didn’t quite have the peace of mind inside Gryffindor Tower.

Exploration of the castle was the only other activity that held her interest for the time being. She signed up her name to return to Diagon Alley for Christmas, it would be good for her to look around the wizarding district.

She walked aimlessly through the corridors and alcoves on the first floor thinking about the stone and it’s powers. She wished she was a bit more mature age-wise as well as magically. The best bet right now was for her to steal the stone and probably sell it off for a million pounds or whatever the wizarding world equivalent was in galleons, probably more than that.

She hid herself in the nearest alcove when she heard footsteps approaching. It was Potter and Weasley discussing not so covertly about the corridor again. She decided to follow them at a safe distance and after crossing the fourth floor both of them split up post a brief chat. Potter decided to scour the library for information which she was sure he wouldn’t find.

This left Weasley and she did have a little score to settle with him. She followed him as he took left into the corridor with deserted rooms. Oblivious to his surrounding Ron walked through the chilly corridor with his arms around himself trying to keep warm. 

When she was sure there was no one around, she pulled out her wand pointing it towards Weasley’s unsuspecting back, “Petrificus Totalus!” she intoned as the spell shot forth and hit its target. 

Ron’s arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body went rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board. 

With a well placed severing charm she cut his robes through the middle. It wasn't deep enough to injure him, however good enough to cause a tear in his robes which she could use. He was only bound but still conscious, to her favour facing the ground. Tearing the robe off his back she covered his eyes with the cloth and tied it firmly into a blindfold.

It was already laborious for her to tear the robe from the stiff body, which she finally managed after a good 10-15 minutes of pulling and cutting using her paring knife.

She deposited the torn shreds a fair distance away from the bound Weasley. Using the fire-making spell she set the pile on fire. Watching it burn on one side and the petrified Weasley on the other side of the corridor she smirked musing to herself, ‘Revenge is best served cold they say. Enjoy it almost naked, Weasel.’

Hermione turned around and left the corridor, she knew the bind would only last about an hour, so it was safe to return. What was brutal though was leaving him in his boxers.

Going through one of the alcoves she used a passage with steps going down and came to what seemed like the first floor corridor again. She didn’t know what prompted her but she felt the urge to check one of the rooms at the very end of the corridor.

With a quick unlocking charm she entered the seemingly abandoned room. It was filled with junk on one side and had a healthy smattering of cobwebs. Right at the back stood a large frame covered with huge drapes.

She lit her wand with a lumos and moved towards it wading through thick cobwebs. She pulled the drapes off to reveal a majestic mirror with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. 

There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

After spending some time trying to decipher the meaning and failing, she decided to just memorise the phrase and decode it later.

Having gone over the inscription a few times she finally focussed on the mirror itself, however she wasn’t ready for whatever she saw causing a yelp from her as she fell back on her bum stumbling backwards.

She took a few moments to calm her breath and lit her wand again. With shaky hands once again she moved in front of the mirror. The vision morphed to the same reflection.

She didn’t flinch though choosing to watch it more closely, it was a woman cloaked in dark gothic jacket and suit somewhat out of a steampunk novel seated on a throne. Her eyes looked familiar and held a pulsing red glow along the iris. Her face was similar to her own and sported a knowing lopsided smile. Her dark hair though was slightly different in that it seemed to have a life if it’s own moving about like dark tendrils. Two shadowy figures stood behind the woman, the left side was flanked by a hooded man with glowing red eyes who stood tall with his hand on the woman’s shoulder. On the other side a womanly figure stood mimicking the man’s posture, only thing recognizable were her deep auburn hair.

Realization hit her hard, it was her own reflection, maybe somewhat in future. The shadows were probably her parents. It gave her a very mixed feeling, on the one hand she wished she could see more of her parents and it gutted her to no end. On the other hand though, she saw the woman, herself, powerful and radiating dominance. The throne, did it mean she would rule over some day, she didn’t know, but she did like what she saw. 

She read the inscription again, aloud this time “Erised… erised… Desire?.. desire… That’s it! It shows my desires.”

“Hmmmm, nothing vain but you do look amazing Hermione. I’d have to look up the spell to make my hair do that. It is pretty intimidating.” Hermione smiled to herself as the woman in the mirror leaned back on the throne with a wink, crossing her legs one over the other showing off the metal studded leather boots. 

Hermione spent hours sitting in front of the mirror in hopes that she would find some distinguishing features of her parents but it seems that’s about the most it could conjure. Ultimately she realized the futility of it, she would never find her parents this way, nor would she gain absolute power wasting her time in front of the mirror. 

She would have to train harder and work smarter, but most importantly… become absolutely ruthless. The world isn’t fair to her now, no reason it’ll stop being that in the future. 

With a final look at her older reflection, she pulled the drape again using the levitation charm and left the room locking it behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if you liked/disliked the fic please do leave a comment. I love to read what you've got to say.  
> Cheers!


	8. A surprise encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi All,  
> Wish you all a very Happy New Year!  
> Welcome to the Chapter 8 of Cambion.  
> Please do let me know how it goes, always love to see your comments.
> 
> Speech ""  
> Thoughts ''  
> Parseltongue $$
> 
> Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling. Also, this is purely a work of fiction and imagination. Events described in the fic resembling reality is merely a coincidence.

Hermione stepped through the barrier on the muggle side of King's Cross station. It was a cold evening with remnants of snow in and around the station. She hugged her winter cloak harder as she walked into the station bathroom. From the inner robe pocket she pulled out the dead man's wand as she had come to call it and performed the warming charm on her cloak and gloves. It was a blessing to have a wand without trace, especially if she wanted to practice some of the new dark spells she had learnt.

Professor Quirrell had been surprised initially with the other wand yet was gracious enough to check it for any sort of trace and confirm she could use it freely even in the muggle world to do magic. As an added courtesy he applied a charm on her luggage to shrink and enlarge it with a tap of her wand. Honestly it wasn't a difficult charm to master if she wanted to do it herself and most luggage manufacturers add it to the trunk for a price, but it was a one time activity and she'd rather not waste time learning it for a one off use.

Stowing away her wand, she fixed her robes and pulled on her gloves before stepping out of the restroom and station.

The city was covered in snow yet it seemed warm and welcoming, partly because of the warming charm. The streets were lit up in a festive glow as muggles around her went about their business. She walked a few blocks before realizing her stupidity, she could take the knight bus, it was a cheap commute option for those who didn’t know how to apparate. 

Pulling her wand out she signalled for the bus and waited a few moments when a loud bang resembling a gunshot echoed from the far right side of the road before an old red double-decker bus came into her view. The bus halted right in front of her while the doors opened to a lanky shabby man dressed in the conductor's uniform. Hermione paid the fare and settled onto one of the arm chairs as the bus took off as abruptly as it came. She felt herself being jostled and hurled around while the bus sped along the busy London streets navigating through muggle traffic.

Hardly a few minutes into the ride, the bus came to a sudden halt while Hermione slipped off the chair and banged her shoulders into one of the beds lined up inside the bus. Stan, the conductor helped her off the floor and informed that they had reached the Leaky Cauldron before she alighted the bus feeling dizzy trying to keep herself stable using the grab rails.

Hermione tried to keep herself upright, however she couldn't control much longer and the moment she stepped off the bus, she rushed to the nearby alleyway and dry heaved in the corner. She hadn't eaten much apart from the heavy breakfast at Hogwarts and a couple of apples for lunch she snuck in her robes. The dingy ride was enough to rattle her stomach hard as she continued to retch up bile. A few muggle teens passed by her taunting and laughing at her duress, however she didn't have enough in her to hit back at them.

She took a few moments to gather herself before cleaning her face. Once sure that she wouldn't fall, she left the alley and stepped inside the cozy little pub.

Tom greeted her as soon as he saw her, "Hello Hermione! What a surprise, I thought you'd be spending your holidays at Hogwarts."

"Hello Tom" she said weakly taking a seat on the barstool.

"What happened dear, you seem quite tired and pale. Is everything alright?" he enquired.

"Can I have some water please? I took the knight bus."

"Hmmm, that explains it. Well, I do hope you now know why hardly anyone takes it." Tom replied, handing her a glass of warm water.

"Yes, and I'd rather get trampled by elephants than go through that infernal gut wrencher again." Hermione spoke in between small sips as she felt much better with the warm water easing up her throat.

"It's okay, you can use the floo next time. Now, if you haven't eaten you can collect something from the kitchen after you freshen up." Tom said while fishing for something on one of the shelves behind him, "Here's the key to your room."

"Thanks so much. I can start working from tomorrow if it's fine." Hermione pocketed the key while getting off the barstool.

"Come now, it's the festive season. You're here for a couple of weeks only, just enjoy yourself for once. You can work all you want during summer."

"Alright, fine Tom. I'll see you during breakfast then. Good night."

"Good night, Hermione."

Hermione opened the door to her little room, she was relieved to find everything in the same place, untouched with a layer of dust and cobwebs. After locking her door she used her wand to clean up the room before enlarging her trunk at the foot of her bed. 

She took a long hot shower to relax herself and settled back in her room with a bowl of chicken stew and some bread. Now that she was away from Hogwarts she could explore the area a bit.

Finishing up dinner she tucked into her warm cozy blanket reading up on the theory of mastering the Unforgivables.

Even though no one was really looking for it, she didn’t want any incriminating evidence against her of performing dark banned spells. She could find some place on the muggle side to practice, there would surely be at least one cozy little place hidden away somewhere in the muggle neighbourhood.

Hiding the book back in her trunk she turned off the lights tucking herself into the warm blanket; ruling Britain could wait, sleep however couldn’t.

* * *

Hermione spent the next few days going around the muggle neighbourhood nearby looking for any sort of abandoned or inconspicuous space for her to practice. It was a longshot considering that Diagon Alley was located right in the middle of a densely populated and well-to-do locality. 

Every day she veered off farther and farther in search until Christmas eve where a familiar face caught her eye. Walking towards her with a bag of groceries was Mary Hahn, her tormentor-in-chief, the woman who still gave her nightmares, more commonly known as Mother Superior.

Hermione felt a shiver run up her spine as the woman crossed overlooking her presence. She stood there for a few moments before realizing that Hildreth House was probably miles away in the other direction. What was she doing in this neighbourhood and why was she not in her usual attire. As far as she could remember, there wasn’t an occasion when she stepped out in anything else than her usual uniform. 

She turned around eventually and tried to follow her, staying as inconspicuous as she could. After walking for a while, Hermione reached a street with a row of similar looking houses on either side which resembled as though they had been created using a cookie cutter.

There was hardly a way to differentiate one from the other. Each single-floored red brick house with sloping thatched roof had a small lawn and a driveway connected to the street. The only difference being the state of the lawns and the type of car parked in front of them.

It was already dark and the snowy streets were devoid of much illumination owing to the barely functional street-lights. She followed Mother Superior and hid herself behind the tree when the woman turned left to enter the last house on the street.

Hermione looked around cautiously, most of the street was deserted owing to the late hour as well as being a festive time of the year. She decided to keep an eye on her for the next few days. She wasn’t stupid enough to confront the woman relying purely on a few spells she knew at the time. Nor was she ignorant of the fact that the woman might have some information about the person who sent her to the orphanage.

She walked beyond her house and noticed a small trail off the street going towards the wooded area around the back of the houses. She held the paring knife firmly as she veered towards the trail searching for a proper vantage point.

All the houses had an almost 6 feet high fence separating the backyard from the woods and each other. The house she was interested in had quite a poorly maintained backyard and one of the oak trees had branches hanging over the fence, though it remained to be seen if they were good enough to bear her weight. 

Fatigue was setting in her bones after a long day of wandering around in the neighbourhood. She leaned against the tree and sat down trying to rest her aching back and legs. In order to satiate the rumbling in her stomach she rummaged her little backpack for the chicken sandwich she packed before leaving Diagon Alley. Hermione ate the sandwich in silence contemplating the unexpected turn of events before returning to her room for the night.

Over the course of the next few days she monitored the house closely as much as she could, gathering any information on the woman. It seemed that Mother Superior was now just Ms Hahn, an old lady living alone in the plush house enjoying her retired life. No one visited her although she visited the local church on a weekly basis and made occasional trips to the nearby market, yet she wasn’t known to interact with anyone else in the neighbourhood. She snuck into the house a couple of times, however there wasn’t much that she could find. 

There weren’t many days left before she had to return back to Hogwarts. It would be wiser to come back during her summer vacation where she would have enough time and a proper plan to interrogate the woman.

* * *

  
31st December, 1991

Hermione walked into the Leaky Cauldron with a smile on her face and moved towards the passageway towards the rooms ignoring the patrons of the dingy little pub.

“Hermione! Wait up!” Tom called.

She stopped in her tracks wondering what the barman wanted at this point in time, she already knew about the staff dinner party for new year’s eve. “Yes, Tom?”

“Getting ready for the party?” Tom asked cheerfully.

“Ah yes, I was going to. What happened? Do you need any help in the kitchens?”

“No, no, everything’s set. An owl parcel came in for you. It wasn’t able to get into your room, so it was delivered here with me. Let me get it for you. Just hold on a minute.” Tom said fishing for something beneath the rum shelf before pulling out a small rectangular package wrapped in simple brown wrapping paper.

“Does it have a name? Any ideas who may have sent it?” Hermione took the box and turned it over to search for any information.

“Nope, nothing on it. It could be from one of your mates from Hogwarts. It seems like a Christmas present that got delayed. Nothing to worry about I feel.”

Hermione pocketed the box, “Yeah, that’s possible. Something from my…  _ friends _ . I’ll see you later then, bye Tom.” She turned around and left without waiting for a response.

Without wasting another moment she ripped open the pack and as per the instruction on the box tapped it with her wand. The plain old box came to its original size and it resembled more like the box that could house wands. 

She opened the box with nervous excitement and the first thing she noticed was a folded note which she kept aside on her desk to reveal a small dagger. The dagger was made from iron and the wooden handle was stained black. The blade was about 5 to 6 inches with a double edge. It was beautiful yet dangerous, surely someone put thought into the gift whoever it was. 

She picked up the letter and it was a familiar scrawl:

_ Here’s a little something for you. _

_ This should do a better job than a paring knife. _

_ I do hope you like it; it has been sharpened for use. _

_ Don’t worry it’s rather… muggle you see. _

_ I didn’t want to cause any issues for you by giving a magical/enchanted dagger. _

_ Happy Yuletide. Enjoy the holidays. _

_ QQ _

_ PS: Burn the note. _

Hermione burnt the note before picking up the dagger cautiously examining it under the flickering lamp. This was her first Christmas present ever and she would have been surprised had she seen the smile that graced her lips. 

She placed it carefully back in the box and got into the shower. A party and a new year awaited her for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if you liked/disliked the fic please do leave a comment. I love to read what you've got to say.  
> Cheers!


End file.
